The recipient of seven honorary degrees, Nils Yngve Wessell served as president of Tufts from 1953 to 1966. A psychologist, he was a professor at Tufts from 1939 to 1947. He also served as assistant director of admissions and dean of men. Under his presidency, Tufts College was renamed Tufts University in 1955, new dormitories and laboratories were built and the Experimental College was founded. Wessell retired in 1966, citing his belief that leadership should change every 10 to 15 years. He went on to serve as president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Now home to the Four Seasons Hotel, 188 Boylston Street in Boston was the first building to house the School of Medicine, beginning in 1893. After only three years, rising enrollments required the school to relocate to a renovated Baptist church on Shawmut Avenue in Boston.
Packard Hall, which was constructed in 1856, was the first dormitory on the Tufts campus. Originally designated as "Building A," it quickly became known as the Boarding House. Students resided in the upper floors, while the lower level was used as a dining hall. A large barn at the rear of the building housed farm animals and tools. The building, now home to the political science department, was named after Silvanus Packard, an early benefactor of Tufts, in 1910.
Jumbo the Elephant, Tufts' Mascot
Tufts' official mascot, Jumbo the elephant, has been ranked among the most singular in college athletics by The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated and is the only college mascot found in Webster's Dictionary. Learn more about this elephant's tale.
A Historic University
As legend has it, when a relative asked Charles Tufts what he would do with his inherited land, and more particularly with "that bleak hill over in Medford," Tufts replied, "I will put a light on it."
Learn more about the origins of Tufts University.